Apparatus for compressing air and other fluids.



W. B. SWINDELL.

APPARATUS FOR OOMPRESSING AIR AND OTHER FLUIDS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 5, 1910.

Patented Mar. 19, 1912.

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APPARATUS FOR GOMPRBSSING AIR AND OTHER FLUIDS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 5, 1910. 1,020,852. Patented Mar. 19, 1912.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER IB. SWINDELL, OF RAILEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN B. CARR, OF ATLANTA,

GEORGIA.

APPARATUS FOR COMPRESSING AIR AND OTHER FLUIDS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 19, 1912.

Application filed November 5, 1910. Serial No. 590,897.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER B. SWINDELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Raleigh, in the county of Wake and State of North Carolina, have invented new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Compressing Air and other Fluids, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention has reference to improvements in apparatus for compressing air and other fluids, and it eomprehends, generally, a compressor consisting of main and auxiliary pumps in pipe communication with an intermediate reservoir and operated by separate lever systems, the arrangement being such that the air is compressed by the main pump and forced into the reservoir, whence it is delivered to the auxiliary pump for re-compression and final delivery to the storage tanks.

A structural embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, Wherein Figure 1 is a front elevation of the improved compressor, the auxiliary pump being shown partly in section. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

In said drawings, the framework of the compressor is indicated in a general manner by the reference character A, the main pump by the character B, and the auxiliary pump by the character C.

Framework A comprises a base 5, on which are mounted a pair of vertical standards 6 and 7, located at the opposite ends thereof, and a short intermediate standard 8. Toward their opposite ends, the stand ards 6 and 7 are connected by upper and lower pairs of horizontal cross-beams 9 and 10, arranged in spaced parallel relation to one another, the lower pair of beams 10 having mounted thereon, in turn, a series of spaced parallel cross-pieces 11 arranged at right angles thereto.

The main pump B is supported by the upper beams 9, and comprises, preferably, a series of horizontal cylinders 12 which extend thereacross and hence are arranged above and parallel with the cross-pieces 11, four of such cylinders being shown in the present construction, although no limitation to that exact number is contemplated, as will be understood. The air or other fluid to be compressed is supplied to said cylinders from a pipe 13 located thereabove and provided with depending branches 1 1 having check valves 15 interposed therein, said branches opening into the adjacent cylinders.

In each cylinder 12 there are fitted two pistons 16 and 17 which are caused to be reciprocated simultaneously in opposite directions through the medium of the main lever system. To this end, there are pivoted to the stems 1S and 19 of said pistons levers 20 and 21 fulcrumed at 22 and 23, respectively, to the adjacent ends of the cross-pieces 11, the proportions of the parts being such that the length of the upper arms of said levers is one-half that of the lower arms, to afford the requisite leverage. At their lower ends, the levers are pivoted to pitmen 24 and 25 connected to the opposite ends of the double or two-armed cranks 26 with which the drive shaft 27 of the apparatus is provided. There are four of these double cranks, as will be understood, in the present apparatus, and they are arranged angularly with respect to one another. The pistons 16 and 17 are preferably recessed, and the inner ends of the piston stems are pivotally mounted in the recesses. Shaft 27 is suitably journaled in bearings provided in the standards 6, 7 and S, and carries on one end thereof a pulley 28, or the like, adapted to be connected in any desired manner with the main source of power. There is also secured to shaft 27, preferably adjacent to pulley 28, a sprocket 29, or the like, having a flexible driving connection 30 with a larger sprocket 31 secured to the corresponding end of a horizontal shaft 32 that serves to operate the auxiliary pump C, said shaft being journaled in bearings provided upon the upper portions of the standards 6 and 7, (see Fig. 3).

Pump C preferably comprises, as shown, a pair of superposed cylinders 33 and 3 1, wherein pistons 35 and 36 work, said cylinders being suitably fastened to standard 6. These pistons are likewise designed for reciprocation simultaneously in opposite directions, their stems 37 and 38 being connected to the levers 39 and 40 included in the auxiliary lever system, the points of connection 11 and 412 being located an appreciable distance from the upper ends or terminals of the lovers. Said lovers are fulcrumed at their lower ends, as at 13 and 44, upon blocks 45 and 16, or the like, secured to the base 5 of the framework of the apparatus. At

their first-mentioned ends, the levers are connected by pitmen 17 and 48 to a crank arm 4C9 secured to the adjacent end of shaft 32, as shown in Fig. 1. From this figure, it will be seen that the levers 39 and 40, which constitute the chief elements of the auxiliary lever. system, are disposed upon opposite sides of the auxiliary pump C, and are connected with the operating shaft 32 by the oppositely-extending pitmen 4:7 and 48, While the series of levers 21 and 22 that, in like manner, constitute the chief elements of the main lever system, are similarly located upon opposite sides of the main pump B, and are connected with the main drive shaft 27 by means of the oppositely-extending pitmen 24 and 25 and the double cranks 26. Hence, all of the pistons 16 and 17 of the main pump will move in unison and will alternately approach and recede from each other, while, at the same time, the pistons 35 and 36 of the auxiliary pump will have a synchronous movement in opposite directions, one of said pistons making its in-stroke and the other piston its'out-s'troke, and vice versa.

Communication between the main and auxiliary pump cylinders is eflected by a system of piping, as follows: Each of the several main cylinders is provided with a short depending outlet pipe 50 which opens into a main outlet pipe 51 and is equipped with a check valve 52. Pipe 51 supplies the fluid to a reservoir 53 by way of a depending centrally-located branch pipe 54, said reservoir being supported at its ends in any desired manner, by the standards 6 and 7. At one end, this reservoir is provided with a depending outlet pipe 55 that is jointed to a pair of supply pipes 56 and 57, which extend outwardly and upwardly, one to the cylinder 33 and the other to the cylinder 34, said pipes opening through the closed inner ends of said cylinders and being provided with check valves 58 and 59. From the said closed ends of the cylinders also lead a pair of depending outlet pipes 60 and 61 equipped with check valves 62 and 63, said pipes opening into a common delivery pipe 64 through which the fluid is finally supplied to the storage tanks, (not shown).

In Operation, the fluid will be drawn through the supply pipe 13 into the cylin ders 12 of the main pump, compressed in such cylinders by the oppositely-acting pistons l6 and 17, and delivered therefrom to the reservoir 53. From said reservoir, the compressed fluid will be drawn alternately into the cylinders 33 and 34 of the auxiliary pump by the out-strokes of the pistons 35 and 36, re-compressed therein when said pistons move inwardly, and finally exhausted from said cylinders, alternately, to the delivery pipe 64, at the termination of the latter movement of the pistons.

It will be observed, from the foregoing,

that the arrangement of the cranks 26 on the main drive shaft is such as to effect a continuous discharge of the compressed fluid from the main pump into the reservoir, there being substantially a discharge from said main cylinders in succession. In like manner, there will also be a continuous discharge of the re-compressed fluid from the auxiliary pump cylinders into the delivery pipe, the fluid being discharged from one cylinder at the same time that a fresh supply of fluid is being drawn into the other cylinder, this being efiected by the reciprocation of the two auxiliary pistons simultaneously in opposite directions through the medium of the auxiliary lever system. It will further be observed that the fluid initially compressed in the main pump cylinders is discharged therefrom into the reservoir prior to its re-compression in the auxiliary pump cylinders; the interposition of this reservoir between the cylinders of the two pumps serves in a measure to equalize the pressure between the two pumps and to insure a more uniform pressure of the fluid flowing to the auxiliary pump, as well as relieving the main pump from the strain to which it would otherwise be subjected if the compressed fluid were forced from the same directly into the storage tanks. Finally, the fulcra of the levers of the two systems are such as to insure the application of the maximum pressure upon'the pistons, both during the in-stroke and the out-stroke of the same, thereby providing for the com pressor as a whole the maximum degree of efficiency.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a compressor, the combination of a frame; a pump mounted therein and com-.

prising a plurality of parallel cylinders provided with individual fluid inlets and outlets; a pair of separate pistons working in each cylinder; a drive shaft having a plurality of two-armed cranks arranged' at an angle to each other; and a separate lever system for operating each pair of pistons, to reciprocate the same simultaneously in opposite directions, each system including a pair of levers fulcrumed intermediate their ends and connected at one end with adjacent pistons, and at the other end with the arms of the adjacent crank.

In a compressor, the combination of a frame; a main pump mounted therein and comprising a plurality of parallel cylinders provided with individual fluid inlets and outlets; a pair of separate pistons working in each cylinder; a drive shaft having a plurality of two-armed cranks arranged at an angle to each other; a separate lever system for operating each pair of pistons, to reciprocate the same simultaneously in opposite directions, each system including a pair of levers fulcrumed intermediate their ends and connected at one end with the adjacent pistons, and at the other end with the arms of the adjacent crank; an auxiliary pump in communication with the main pump, for re-compressing the fluid initially compressed in the latter; and means for operating the auxiliary pump.

3. In a compressor, the combination of a frame; a main pump mounted therein; a main drive shaft; connections between the main drive shaft and the main pump for operating the latter from the former; an auxiliary drive shaft; driving connections between said shafts; an auxiliary pump mounted in said frame and comprising a pair of cylinders provided with individual fluid inlets in communication with the main pump, and with individual fluid outlets; a piston working in each cylinder; a lever system for simultaneously reciprocating; said pistons in opposite directions, said system comprising a pair of levers arranged upon opposite sides of said cylinders and connected with the adjacent pistons, and operating connections between said levers and said auxiliary shaft; and a delivery pipe with which both fluid outlets communicate.

4. In a compressor, the combination of a frame; a main pump mounted therein; a main drive shaft; connections between the main drive shaft and the main pump for operating the latter from the former; an auxiliary drive shaft; driving connections between said shafts; an. auxiliary pump mounted in said frame and comprising a pair of cylinders provided with individual fluid inlets in communication with the main pump, and with individual fluid outlets; a piston working in each cylinder; a lever system for simultaneously reciprocating said pistons in opposite directions, said system comprising a pair of levers arranged upon opposite sides of said cylinders and fulcrumed at their lower ends upon the base of the frame, a crank secured to the adjacent end of said auxiliary drive shaft, connections between the upper ends of said levers and said crank, and additional connections between said levers adjacent the upper ends of the latter, and the adjacent pistons; and a delivery pipe with which both fluid outlets communicate.

5. In a compressor, the combination of a frame: a main pump mounted in the frame and comprising a plurality of parallel cylinders each having a pair of separate pistons working therein; a main drive shaft; connections between said shaft and said pistons for reciprocating the pistons in each cylinder simultaneously in opposite directions; an auxiliary drive shaft; driving connections between said main and auxiliary shafts; an auxiliary pump mounted in said frame and comprising a pair of cylinders provided with individual fluid inlets in communication with the main pump, and with individual fluid outlets; a piston working in each second-named cylinder; connections between the auxiliary drive shaft and the second'named pistons for simultaneously reciprocating the latter in opposite directions; and a delivery pipe with which both secondnamed fluid cutlets communicate.

(1. In a compressor, the combination of a frame; a main pump mounted therein and comprising a plurality of parallel cylinders provided with individual lluid inlets and outlets; a pair of separate pistons working in each cylinder; a. main drive shaft provided with a plurality of c units; a separate lever system for operating each pair of pistons, to reciprocate the same simultaneously in opposite directions, each system including a pair of levers fulerumed intermediate their ends and connected at one end with the adjacent pistons and at the other end with the adjacent cranks; an auxiliary drive shaft; connections between said main and auxiliary drive shafts; an auxiliary pump mounted in said frame and comprising a pair of parallel cylinders provided with individual fluid inlets in communication with the main pump, and with individual fluid outlets; a piston working in each secondnamed cylinder; a lever system for operating said second-named pistons, to simultaneously reciprocate the same in opposite directions, said system comprising a pair of levers arranged upon opposite sides of said second-named cylinders and connected with the adjacent pistons in the latter, and operating connections between said levers and said auxiliary shaft; and a delivery pipe with which both second-named fluid outlets connnunicate.

7. In a compressor, the combination of a main pump including a cylinder having a pair of opposed pistons working therein; a main drive shaft; driving connections between the main shaft and pistons for operating said pistons in unison; an auxiliary drive shaft; driving connections between said main and auxiliary shafts; an auxiliary pump in communication with the main pump and including a pair of cylinders each having a piston working in it; and separate driving connections between the auxiliary shaft and auxiliary pump.

8. In a compressor, the combination of a main pump; a main drive shaft; a lever system operatively connected with said shaft for actuating said pump; an auxiliary drive shaft; driving connections between said main and auxiliary shafts; an auxiliary pump in communication with the main pump; and a separate lever system connecting the auxiliary shaft and auxiliary pump.

9. In a compressor, the combination of a main pump comprising a plurality of cylinders provided with individual fluid inlets and outlets, and a pair of pistons working in each cylinder; a main drive shaft; a separate pair of levers connected with each pair of pistons and with said shaft, for operating the former from the latter; an auxiliary drive shaft; connections between said main and auxiliary shafts; an auxiliary pump in communication with the main pump for recompressing the fluid initially compressed in said main pump; and driving connections between said auxiliary shaft and auxiliary pump.

10. In a compressor, the combination of a main pump comprising a plurality of cylinders provided with individual fluid inlets and outlets, and a pair of pistons working in each cylinder; a main drive shaft; a separate pair of levers connected with each pair of pistons and with said shaft, for operating the former from the latter; an auxiliary drive shaft; connections between said main and auxiliary shafts; an auxiliary pump in communication with the main pump for recompressing the fluid initially compressed in said main pump; an equalizing reservoir intermediate said pumps and in communi cation with the same; and driving connections between said auxiliary shaft and auxiliary pump.

11. In a compressor, .the combination of a main pump comprising a plurality of cylinders provided with individual fluid inlets and outlets, and a pair of pistons working in each cylinder; a main drive shaft; a separate pair of levers connected with each pair of pistons and with said shaft, for operating the former from the latter; an auxiliary drive shaft; connections between said main and auxiliary shafts; an auxiliary pump comprising a pair of cylinders provided with individual fluid inlets and outlets, and a piston working in each cylinder; an equal izing reservoir intermediate said pumps and in direct communication with the first named outlets and the second-named inlets; and driving connections between said auxiliary shaft and the second-named pistons.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto'set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WALTER B. SWINDELL. Witnesses:

W. E. UPoHURoH, E. II. LEE, Jr.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

